Angelo PC

My desktop is finally back up and running! It only took a week and a half, a new motherboard and a new power supply, but it’s running.

Shortly after my post about protecting your computer from lightning, our house (and my main desktop computer) took a direct hit. The computer shut down instantly and we all heard what sounded like a dying security alarm (home security system). Not only was my computer dead, but our home phone system, our garage door opener and a few other things were knocked out, as well.

I ordered a new motherboard and when it arrived I installed it, only to find that it didn’t fix the problem. How could that be? I tested the power supply and it tested OK. Still, not a single light was lit and there was no fan or hard drive action. Nothing.

I reluctantly ordered a new power supply, knowing full-well that it wasn’t the problem. When the power supply arrived, I immediately installed it. I’m without my main computer for almost a week, so far. I was more than a little anxious to get it back up and running. As I had predicted, nothing had changed.

Since we were heading into another weekend, I decided I would put off communication with the motherboard supplier until today. I was able to reach them and they had agreed to cross-ship a new motherboard. Although they were hesitant to send it because it was the first bad motherboard complaint they received, for this particular model.

Once I firmed-up the new motherboard, I went back into the office to ensure that I hadn’t connected anything, incorrectly. At one point in my troubleshooting, I saw the power light come on. I was just a tad exceited, because it meant that there was still hope for the current motherboard.

To make this already long story short, it turned out that the internal telephony modem had fried (pictured below) and was preventing any power from being distributed to anywhere else on the motherboard. Once I removed the modem and reconnected everything, the computer started up just like normal!

As you can see circled in red, the main chip on the modem board is what was fried.

Since all of my business calls are routed to my cell phone, I never missed a call, but I got to thinking…I hadn’t heard the phone ring in my office in quite a while. After a little checking, I found that, in addition to everything else, the Suddenlink Business Telephony modem was knocked out. The saga continues. They’re sending a technician out, today, to replace the modem.